Have I Reached the End of My Life?

Ning Rongrong grabbed Ye Hua's arm and yanked him backward.

On the arena stage, the short fat man's corpse suddenly swelled up. Countless worms seemed to writhe beneath his skin before he exploded without warning!

Blood and flesh splattered everywhere, shattered bones flying through the air!

Ye Hua reacted swiftly, throwing his coat out to block the blood.

Right after that, the tall skinny man's body began to swell as well. He did not even have time to scream before exploding so completely that not even a corpse remained!

Tentacle fragments tumbled through the air, and foul-smelling blood sprayed across the entire stage. The spectators in the front rows were splashed full in the face, and screams rose one after another.

"Someone died! Someone died on the stage!"

"Run! Run!"

The Ninth Sub-Arena instantly descended into chaos. Spectators shoved one another as they surged toward the exits, their cries and wails blending together.

Ye Hua grabbed Ning Rongrong and leaped down from the stage amid the chaos.

His gaze swept across the referee's area: empty chairs, empty stations. The referee who should have been there had vanished at some point.

So there really was something fishy going on...

Ye Hua narrowed his eyes.

"The referee is gone." Ye Hua's voice was icy.

The two pushed through the chaotic crowd and found Xiao Wu and Zhu Zhuqing in the waiting area.

The two had just come down from the stage, their bodies still carrying the heat of battle. When they saw Ye Hua's coat covered in blood, their expressions changed drastically.

"Brother!" Xiao Wu rushed over. "Are you okay? Where are you hurt?"

"It isn't my blood." Ye Hua frowned and tossed aside his coat. "It belongs to the Groping Duo. Did anything unusual happen on your side?"

Zhu Zhuqing and Xiao Wu exchanged a glance, then both shook their heads.

Ye Hua let out a slight breath of relief. If Xiao Wu and Zhu Zhuqing had been targeted too, he would have to settle things properly with the Great Spirit Arena.

But at that moment, Oscar came stumbling over, his expression utterly awful.

"Teacher Ye! Something happened!" Oscar clutched the betting slip. "The Great Spirit Arena won't pay out! They said there was a problem with our spirit fight!"

Ning Rongrong frowned tightly. "What do you mean, they won't pay? We competed fairly. What problem could there be?"

"I don't know." Oscar looked awkwardly at Ning Rongrong. "They gave no reason. They are just stalling and saying that if there is a problem, we should speak to the manager."

Ning Rongrong froze for a moment. "So not only did they arrange Soul King opponents for Teacher Ye and me, they also want to swallow our soul coins?"

Oscar nodded with a bitter smile.

The fury in Ning Rongrong's eyes nearly burst forth. "Fine, fine, fine! I'll write to my father right now!"

"Ambushing us would have been bad enough, but now they want to rob us openly? Do they think our Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect is easy to bully?"

Ye Hua reached out and pressed down on her wrist. "Don't rush. We'll handle it ourselves first."

"Teacher Ye!" Ning Rongrong stamped her foot anxiously.

"Rongrong." Ye Hua stared into her eyes. "If you write to Sect Master Ning and he sends people to negotiate, it will take at least half a day going back and forth."

"They have plenty of time to fabricate evidence. By then, the witnesses and evidence will all be gone, and we'll be the ones accused of causing trouble."

"Then what do we do?" Oscar asked urgently. "We can't just let this go, can we? That was five thousand Gold Soul Coins of yours!"

Ye Hua took the betting slip from Oscar's hand, folded it, and tucked it into his chest. "Come on. Let's talk to the manager. I have something to ask him anyway."

Soto Great Spirit Arena, manager's office.

Manager Yang sat in a broad leather chair, holding a cup of freshly brewed black tea with an account book spread before him.

Tonight's books looked terrible. The Winning-Streak Killer alone had cost the Great Spirit Arena nearly a hundred thousand Gold Soul Coins.

If he had not acted decisively and promptly declared the match invalid due to a violation, they would have had to pay out another thirty thousand or so tonight.

"A bunch of idiots." Manager Yang took a sip of tea and smugly muttered to himself, "At a critical moment, I still have to step in and arrange for the Yaksha Combo to end that winning streak!"

"The Sausage Martial Soul is utterly ordinary, and the Winning-Streak Killer's Soul Rings are merely white, yellow, and purple. They probably aren't from any rich or powerful background."

"Since they have no backing, then after coming to my turf, they have to follow my rules. If I let you take the money, you can take it. If I don't let you take it, heh heh... it's all mine!"

At the end of the day, as long as the Great Spirit Arena's accounts did not keep bleeding money, he could sit securely in this manager's chair.

There was a knock on the door.

"Come in."

When he was happy, even his words to others sounded cheerful.

He selectively ignored Xiao Wu and the others, extending a hand only toward Ye Hua and Ning Rongrong.

"Oh, the Winning-Streak Killer and Young Miss Ning!"

"Rare guests indeed. What wind brought you two here?"

Ye Hua placed the betting slip on the desk. "We're here to claim our winnings."

Manager Yang glanced at the betting slip with a faint smile. "Ah, that. The front desk should have explained it to you already."

"As the old saying goes, a bet is a bet, and you must accept the result. The Yaksha Combo are veterans of the Great Spirit Arena. It isn't unfair that you lost to them!"

"What Yaksha Combo?" Ning Rongrong glared. "They were clearly the Groping Duo!"

"What? Don't you know what you did? Do you really need me to spell it out for you?"

The Groping Duo?

Manager Yang blinked, taking a long while to recover. "Miss Ning, you may eat whatever you want, but you cannot speak carelessly!"

"The Groping Duo were banned by us three months ago. How could they possibly appear in the spirit arena?"

The moment he said that, Ning Rongrong flew into a rage. Xiao Wu nearly kicked him in the face, while a dangerous aura radiated from Zhu Zhuqing. But Ye Hua stopped them all.

Ye Hua stared directly into Manager Yang's eyes. "Manager, explain this clearly. Are you certain they were not the Groping Duo?"

"Oh, Mr. Ye, why would I lie to you? If you don't believe me, go check the spirit fight records. We're open and transparent!"

Manager Yang spread his hands and shouted toward the door, "Someone! Bring me the spirit fight records for Mr. Ye Hua to inspect!"

Ye Hua narrowed his eyes. He could now be certain—

Had Manager Yang tampered with things? Yes, he had. This was aimed at Ye Hua!

Had Manager Yang sent out the Groping Duo? No. He did not seem to be lying!

Then this was strange. How could they be the Yaksha Combo inside the office, yet turn into the Groping Duo once they left it?

Before long, the spirit fight records were brought over. Manager Yang waved a hand, flipped to Ye Hua and Ning Rongrong's match, and pushed the record toward Ye Hua without even opening his eyes.

"Look all you want, you two. If it doesn't match, I'll chop off my own head and let you use it as a ball!"

Ning Rongrong was stunned by how confident he was. She had thought the records had been tampered with.

But after reading them, she suddenly burst out laughing.

Xiao Wu squeezed her head out from over Ning Rongrong's shoulder. After reading it, she looked at Manager Yang with the same expression.

"Manager, is something wrong with your brain?"

Manager Yang's brow furrowed tightly. "Little girl, no insults."

"Oh, so it's your eyes that are bad." Xiao Wu nodded solemnly.

She directly pressed the spirit fight record in front of the manager's face. "Please take a look, sir!"

Manager Yang snatched the record away.

"No problem. This is the Yaksha Combo, Yaksha... Yak..."

"The Groping Duo!!!"

"Have I reached the end of my life?!"

But a manager was still a manager, and he immediately changed the subject.

"My apologies, you two. Perhaps one of my referees made a mistake, but you still cannot receive these Gold Soul Coins!"

"Because! Your spirit fight! Violated the rules!"